27-4: Who are the descendants of Esau today?

Before we move on to the next chapter, just a few quick words about Esau and his descendants.

First, Esau’s descendants will come to be known as the Edomites, a group of people that will be in continual conflict with God’s chosen race.

The hated King Herod in the New Testament is an Edomite.

He is the one who will try to kill the messiah while still a baby by decreeing that all Israelite children up to the age of two be murdered.

In modern day terms, a large portion of the peoples residing in modern day Turkey are descendants from Esau.

Most Syrians and the Kurdish people of Iraq are descended from Esau.

Actually, it would not be inaccurate to say that a large part of the Muslim world has the blood of Esau flowing through their veins.

Finally, many Palestinians today recognize that they are descendants of Esau.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENTWhen Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi,
he was furious,and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
-Matthew 2:16